Smallville: Splinter

Jonathan: "You were never really my son. You were a thing we found in a cornfield."

For one bright, shining moment, I actually thought Lana was dead. Ah, well.

The effect of silver K appears to be like smoking way too much pot: total paranoia. Except that it wasn't K at all; the splinter was a part of Fine. I suspected throughout that Fine was behind it all, and of course, he was. Why did he do it? To conveniently save Clark's sanity and get in good with him? Certainly. To test Clark's vulnerability, perhaps? To possibly see Clark kill someone? Who knows at this point? I know I have a Spike bias, but I think Fine is turning into the most fascinating villain they've ever had on this show – Luthors excepted, of course. James Marsters does subtle evil sooooooo well.

Fine starts and ends this one by talking about betrayal and duplicitous human nature, which is, of course, our theme. Clark's worse fears are not necessarily that his secret will be revealed, but what the consequences of revealing it could be: medical experimentation, helplessness, the loss of the people he loves – or even more, his fear that his loved ones will see him as an alien, a thing. As much as the Kents love him, that tiny little bit of fear must always be there, deep inside of Clark. What must it be like to be an alien, so different from everyone else?

Clark's paranoia was unjustified, but Lex has every reason to be paranoid. How about Lionel's humongo betrayal of Lex? Lionel said at one point, "Lex is an extraordinary young man. He's always had an extraordinary appetite for power. But if he succeeds in his first foray into the political arena, I'm afraid he'll develop such a fierce taste for it, he'll go on to devour the whole world." Is Lionel's intention malevolent? In his own, dear, twisted way, is Lionel trying to thwart Lex's political ambitions in order to protect Lex from himself?

It's so funny that Lex is now trying to seduce Lana intellectually. Can physical seduction be far behind? I really did enjoy the Lex/Lana love scene; she works so well as Lex's love interest. Please, can't she go evil or something? Think of how great she'd look in black leather.

Bits and pieces:

— This episode was more visually comic-book-like than usual. That happens sometimes, and it's Fine with me, pun intended.

— What is Fine? Yes, I know he's an evil computer or robot or something, but is he liquid metal, like the T-1000?

— In every other episode, several people get thrown across a room. This time, it was Martha and Lex.

— Clark lied to his parents again; he didn't tell them about Fine. Or was he still thinking he'd imagined it at that point?

— The music reminded me of Hitchcock movies. I'm sure that was intentional.

— Fine did several riffs on humans bad, Kryptonians good.

Quotes:

Lex: "I'm the one that's gonna kill you, Clark." Ooooh.

Fine: "We've been fishing some dangerous waters. Maybe the shark's finally getting testy."

Chloe: "Lex comes from more of the Rube Goldberg school of villainy. I think this sort of direct attack really isn't his style."

My favorite quote this week was Lex's. Lana bursts in and says, "You can't stand to see us together, can you?" Lex replies, "I think this is the part where I usually say, Lana, what are you talking about?"

Chloe: "I'd die before I'd ever betray you."
Please don't let that be a hint about future developments.

Lionel: "The people close to you will always know what is truly in your heart. That's why Lana Lang will never love you, son."
Now, that was cruel. Possibly true, but cruel.

Excellent, and great fun to watch. Four out of four stars,

Billie
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Billie Doux had a love-hate relationship with Smallville, which is why some of her reviews are briefer than they should be.

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